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/ 21 October 2003
Sanlam Life, the life assurance subsidiary of listed South African financial services group Sanlam Ltd, confirmed on Monday that about 350 people would lose their jobs as part of the group’s current restructuring process. The restructuring is part of a comprehensive effort to save R250-million in costs in Sanlam Life over the next year.
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/ 10 October 2003
The South African economy required further "aggressive" interest rate cuts of up to 400 basis points in order to align it with economic fundamentals in its major trading partners and to slow the rate of appreciation of the rand against the major currencies, according to Standard Bank group economist Iraj Abedian.
The emergence of the Group of 20+ developing countries at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun was an "important moral and political victory" that strengthened the bargaining power of developing countries, according to South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel.
South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to its inflation targeting framework for monetary policy, saying price stability was "fundamentally important" in the country’s quest for economic development and freedom.
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/ 26 September 2003
High inflation expectations among producers and consumers are one of the key threats to the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation target, according to SARB Governor Tito Mboweni. He also said the bank will continue to buy US dollars in the market to build up the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Domestic demand in the South African economy is generally slowing, with companies seeing lower growth in demand for their products, although some pockets of resilience do exist, according to international investment bank Merrill Lynch.
Revenues collected by the South African government in the first two months of the new 2003-04 fiscal year are so far lagging those received in 2002, according to the latest monthly data on revenue, expenditure and borrowing released by the National Treasury.
South Africa’s property market is poised for further acceleration as the combined influence of five factors, all individually capable of boosting property sales, hit the market almost simultaneously, according to market participants on Wednesday.
Consumer confidence in South Africa rose slightly in the second quarter of 2003 compared to the first quarter of the year, with the FNB/BER consumer confidence index rising to -2 index points from -3 index points earlier.
South African wines have recorded one of their most impressive international results ever, winning five of the 20 trophies awarded at London’s International Wine and Spirits Competition and making the country by far the biggest winner on the show.